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Thurston Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Thurston Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$150k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$124kEducation$36kAnimals$25kRecreation & Sports$18kInternational$16kYouth Development$16kCommunity Improvement$15kEnvironment$14kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$18,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$21M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BREAKTHROUGH T1D$20,000
NATIONAL JEWISH HOSPITAL$18,000
GUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND$18,000
OPERATION SMILE$18,000
ADAPTIVE SPORTS USA (MOVE UNITED)$18,000
ASPCA$15,000
CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION COUNCIL OF CONTRACOSTA COUNTY$15,000
HOMECARE AND HOSPICE OF THE VALLEY$15,000
SAVE THE CHILDREN USA$13,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 76% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%HUMANE FARMING ASSOCIATION: $2k → 8%LAFAYETTE PARTNERS IN EDUCATION: $5k → 9%HUMANE SOCIETY OF VENTURA COUNTY: $6k → 10%CABOT SPACE & SCIENCE CENTER: $1k → 10%GUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND: $18k → 7%ASPCA: $15k → 17%CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE RELIEF FUND: $5k → 14%ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD: $15k → 15%CONVOY OF HOPE: $5k → 15%SAVE THE CHILDREN USA: $13k → 9%STEPPING STONES OF THE ROARING FORK VALLEY: $4k → 6%ASPEN HOPE CENTER: $4k → 7%HOMECARE AND HOSPICE OF THE VALLEY: $15k → 8%LIFT-UP: $3k → 10%NATIONAL JEWISH HOSPITAL: $18k → 12%OPERATION SMILE: $18k → 10%ADAPTIVE SPORTS USA (MOVE UNITED): $18k → 8%KENTUCKY STATE TREASURER: $6k → 14%LAFAYETTE PARTNERS IN EDUCATION: $5k → 9%ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD: $9k → 15%SAVE THE CHILDREN USA: $2k → 9%STEPPING STONES OF THE ROARING FORK VALLEY: $3k → 6%ASPEN HOPE CENTER: $3k → 7%LIFT-UP: $2k → 10%INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: $1k → 12%OPERATION SMILE: $9k → 10%CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION COUNCIL OF CONTRACOSTA COUNTY: $15k → 9%STEPPING STONES OF THE ROARING FORK VALLEY: $3k → 6%ASPEN HOPE CENTER: $2k → 7%OPERATION SMILE: $8k → 10%FOOD BANK O CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO: $5k → 9%ENGLISH IN ACTION: $2k → 6%OPERATION SMILE: $7k → 10%FOOD BANK O CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO: $3k → 9%ENGLISH IN ACTION: $1k → 6%ASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $4k → 6%RESPONSE HELP FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $3k → 6%ASPEN JUNIOR HOCKEY: $3k → 6%ASPEN JUNIOR HOCKEY: $3k → 6%RESPONSE HELP FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $3k → 6%ASPEN VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $3k → 6%ASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $3k → 6%ASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $2k → 6%RESPONSE HELP FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $2k → 6%ASPEN VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $1k → 6%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

MT
MN
NY
CT
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
DC
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

49%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$148k · 13 repeat orgs$157k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 11 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
9

Total granted

$148k
$38k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+16%

Still filing today

69%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 21% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $119k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’24
InternationalAnimalsHealthEducationPublic BenefitFood & NutritionOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • OS
    OPERATION SMILE INC
    4× · 2020–2024 · $41k · revenue +14%
  • LP
    Lafayette Partners in Education
    2× · 2021–2022 · $10k · revenue +126%
  • SS
    STEPPING STONES OF THE ROARING FORK VALLEY
    3× · 2020–2022 · $10k · revenue +28%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • KS
    KENTUCKY STATE TREASURER
    one grant, 2021 · $6k
  • HS
    HUMANE SOCIETY OF VENTURA COUNTY
    one grant, 2020 · $6k · revenue +5%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
2
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
3
International Snow Leopard Trust

The international snow leopard trust aims to ethically conserve snow leopards and their high mountain ecosystems through partnerships with indigenous peoples and local communities, and through research to improve the understanding of snow…

Animals
4
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
5
The San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

To ensure every companion animal has access to quality medical care, compassionate shelter, and a loving home.

Animals
6
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
7
The Peregrine Fund Inc

To change the future for nature and humanity by conserving birds of prey worldwide.

—
8
Conservation Society of California

Through management of oakland zoo, the conservation society of california deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.

Animals
9
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
10
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Inc

Protection of animal rights

Animals
11
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
12
Global Animal Partnership
Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Save the Children Federation Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Rescue Committee Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

20 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 20 of the 30 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/20
Grantees still filing
13/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD: $23,000 · OtherONE LAPTOP PER CHILDGUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND INC: $18,000 · OtherGUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND INCADAPTIVE SPORTS USA (MOVE UNITED): $18,000 · OtherADAPTIVE SPORTS USA (MOVE UNITED)NATIONAL JEWISH HOSPITAL: $18,000 · OtherNATIONAL JEWISH HOSPITALHOMECARE AND HOSPICE OF THE VALLEY: $15,000 · OtherHOMECARE AND HOSPICE OF THE VALLEYIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $8,500 · OtherASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIESRESPONSE HELP FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $7,500 · OtherKENTUCKY STATE TREASURER: $6,000 · OtherCALIFORNIA WILDFIRE RELIEF FUND: $5,000 · OtherFOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO: $8,000 · OtherFOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANOASPEN JUNIOR HOCKEY INC: $6,000 · Other+2 more: $5,500 · OtherOPERATION SMILE INC: $41,000 · InternationalOPERATION SMILE INCSave The Children Federation Inc: $15,000 · InternationalSave The Children Federa…CONVOY OF HOPE: $5,000 · InternationalCONVOY OF HOPERAINFOREST TRUST: $5,000 · InternationalRAINFOREST TRUST+1 more: $1,000 · InternationalBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $20,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUG…ASPEN HOPE CENTER: $8,500 · HealthASPEN HOPE …ASPEN VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $3,500 · HealthASPEN VALLE…THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $15,000 · AnimalsTHE AMERI…HUMANE SOCIETY OF VENTURA COUNTY: $6,000 · AnimalsHUMANE SO…POLAR BEARS INTERNATIONAL: $2,000 · AnimalsPOLAR BEA…HUMANE FARMING ASSOCIATION: $2,000 · AnimalsHUMANE FA…CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION COUNCIL OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: $15,000 · Community ImprovementLafayette Partners in Education: $10,000 · EducationEnglish in Action: $3,000 · EducationSTEPPING STONES OF THE ROARING FORK VALLEY: $9,500 · Public Benefit
Other$148,500International$67,000Health$32,000Animals$25,000Community Improvement$15,000Education$13,000Public Benefit$9,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetOPERATION SMILE INC: $41,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND INC: $18,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILD ABUSE PREVENTION COUNCIL OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLafayette Partners in Education: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSTEPPING STONES OF THE ROARING FORK VALLEY: $9,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetASPEN HOPE CENTER: $8,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetASPEN JUNIOR HOCKEY INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF VENTURA COUNTY: $6,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCONVOY OF HOPE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAINFOREST TRUST: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetASPEN VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEnglish in Action: $3,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetPOLAR BEARS INTERNATIONAL: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE FARMING ASSOCIATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHABOT SPACE & SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Aspen Community Found…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Aspen Community FoundationCO13.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Aspen Community Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Thurston Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Thurston Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Thurston Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Thurston Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 30 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Thurston’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home